Kiss Me Thru The Telephone
by mmthemesq
Summary: Emily and Michelle text each other throughout the years... Starts between "Dance, Dance" and "Rock and a Hard Place". Note: HEAVILY influenced by headcanons.
1. How It Starts

_Michelle._ Emily absolutely _hates_ her. _OK, so maybe hate isn't_ exactly _the word._ Emily doesn't think she's _hated_ anyone in her life before. Sure, she's had an intense dislike, but when it comes to wishing actual physical harm on that person, she finds herself stopping short. _It's all semantics, and if I've gotta be a lawyer because I can no longer dance or whatever, I'll have to be careful about these things._

 _Not that that's ever gonna happen._

 _OK, I_ extremely dislike _Michelle. I can't stop thinking about the way she just waltzed in and took Giselle's spot! With her stupidly per-_ promising _lines. I mean, I'll_ admit, reluctantly _\- she does have potential. But Giselle's an_ amazing _dancer... Well, when she dances instead of just doing gymnastics anyway._

 _What's Michelle thinking? That because she's really good and really pretty she can just_ join _A-Troupe? She has to earn her spot like everyone else - it's only fair._

 _If_ I _think it's only fair for_ Riley _to have to earn her spot, it's not exactly an unjust request. Right?_

 _Regardless, I have to do something -_ now _!_


	2. Getting To Know You

_I don't know what's up with Emily. She was_ so _sweet when I first met her and now... I just-I don't know. I thought we'd really hit it off, but she's acting kinda cold._

 _Fine, really cold. Like_ the Antarctic _cold._

"Hey!" Michelle's head whipped round, her face hopeful. Standing next to her was Emily, a smile on her face and phone in her hand.

"Hi?" Emily bit her lip and looked down, smirking as she scuffed the floor with her shoe.

"I need to apologise to you. You had a good... _very good_ audition. I was being possibly _too_ overprotective of Giselle? Anyway, I'd like to make it up to you if I can." Michelle met Emily's gaze as she lifted her head again.

"No no there's no need to do that. I understand completely."

"You understand why I called you out for being late? You're _sure_?" Emily searched her eyes, and Michelle felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she started to smile.

"Yeah, totally. It's cool. I promise." Michelle stepped back and started to get her things from her cubby.

"Would you consider it for my peace of mind then?" Michelle paused.

KMTTT

 _I've got her right where I want her._

"Sure, but I don't understand what _I_ can do that's so important."

"Well... why don't you hand over your phone and find out?" Emily 'absentmindedly' brushed Michelle's arm.

 _She's_ been _dance captain, she knows that the chance of_ me _ever being in a relationship with_ her _is 0%, if not negative 1... but still, sometimes a little 'subconscious attraction' can go a long way._

"Uh yeah - yeah sure!" Michelle beamed and handed her phone over to Emily who gave a half-smile as she exchanged the numbers.

"There. Now, I'd better not catch you being late to the studio again." Michelle blushed and laughed nervously as she looked at her feet.

"You won't. I promise you that." Michelle stuck her free hand out and Emily took it with a genuine smile. _It's not often people respect my boundaries. I hope she does well in B-Troupe, then maybe she can kick someone_ else _out of A-Troupe next year, once she's earned her place of course. Maybe Eldon..._

 _Oh right!_ Emily dropped Michelle's hand as if it had become a bag of hot rocks.

"And Miss Kate and Chris know I won't be- late... as well." Michelle coughed and looked back down at the floor.

"Well I'll see you, Captain?" Emily snorted. _Oh Go- this is embarrassing._ Michelle's face lit up.

"Emily's- just fine." Michelle smiled and nodded.

"Well _Emily_ , I'll see you tomorrow." Emily nodded at her and leaned against the cubbies.

"Looking forward to it." Emily rolled her eyes behind Michelle's back before she watched her leave the room. Once she was out of the studio she smirked but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop it softening into a genuine smile.

KMTTT

Michelle's phone buzzed on the nightstand. Michelle took her remaining earbud out and put down her choreography notebook. No, she had no plans to become dance captain, but it was good to keep up with the practice.

"Hunt-?Emily. What's she said?" Michelle sat on the end of the bed and opened her text.

 _ **Let the games begin.**_


	3. Colourblind

_**What Games?**_

KMTT

Emily was already out of her room when her phone vibrated. Family dinner was a serious affair in their household and she could already smell the soy sauce.

KMTT

 _No reply. Well gee, thanks for clearing that one up. Never mind, I'll find out tomorrow, I guess._

KMTT

The text from Michelle was proving to be a lot more tempting than Emily first anticipated.

 _But, never mind. I'll find out tomorrow. When I can actually spend time with Michelle... to kick her_ out _of the studio. Anyone that wants such an annoying goody two shoes to stay can get over it! She's already broken our family apart, and it's my job as dance captain to put it back together. Not to mention, Giselle's a close friend of mine._

KMTT

Ready for dance exceptionally early, the dance captain of A-Troupe leaned against her white dresser, casually scrolling through her text messages.

"Em, bathroom' s fre- Oh gosh!" Riley jumped as she saw her sister was ready to leave.

"But how did you, I didn't even hear..." Riley's voice trailed off as she noticed Emily giving her a worried look.

"Reindeer twirling around a gigantic candy cane on ice skates _juggling gingerbread men_ Riley?" The younger sister hugged her jumper protectively. "I'm just looking out for you. _Go change._ "

Emily made sure Riley had left the room before returning to the reply that had been bugging her all morning. _Well, not all morning because that would mean I've been sat here for over two hours because of Michelle. And that's just ridiculous._

 **You'll have to wait and find out ;)**

KMTT

 _Yes! She texted me back. I don't know, there's something about Emily, I think we could be great friends. She's already joking with me... so why not?_

 ** _Aww you're making me blush_**

KMTT

Emily stared at the screen in disbelief, squeezed her eyes shut and tentatively re-opened them. _Nope that, that's still what it says._ Her finger hovered over the 'Reply' button. _Actually you know what, I think I'm good for today._ She nervously threw her phone on the bed. _I think it's contagious_.

KMTT

"That means... Riley, you're in front." _She looks back at me and I shrug. I know I have to earn my place. I would've liked to have been in the front row. But apparently I'm not good enough. Just have to work harder I guess._

 _I wonder what games Emily was talking about._

KMTT

 _Teaching Michelle a lesson has unfortunately been delayed because Chris and Miss Kate_ thought _we needed new line placements... and had it not been for_ Riley, _of all people, we would have been in the_ same lines _as they thought it was fine the_ second time _I did them._ Really? _Was this_ entire exercise _designed to get Michelle placed beside me? I've got to get her back in the back. Like, I'm not looking at her, obviously - but I_ swear _I can feel that she's next to me. She's already putting me off. It's been five minutes!_

KMTT

"So that means you guys get a day off!" Michelle and Emily smiled and nodded at each other, walking closer together. _Okay, this is not helping me get rid of Michelle. New strategy - whatever she says, disagree or say something opposite._

"I've never been to the beach." _So she wants to go to the beach in Canada, in fall? Is she joking?_

"Actually, the E-Girls and I are helping out with dance camp so... we won't be able to join you." Michelle's shoulders slumped. _Wait, she wants me there? Well, no not me obviously, probably Chloe or-_

"Where do you want me?" _Riley_ _'s not an E-Girl. We can't spend time with each other now._

" _The beach._ " _I would have thought that was obvious._

"You should... come to the beach Riley." _Michelle wants to hang out with_ my _sister. Those traitors can spend all day together - well Michelle isn't a traitor, she's annoying and_ good _and entitled and pretty... and she always plays the martyr. Either way, what do I care?_

KMTT

"They're so bad." _Individually, they're great to be around, except maybe Stephanie - even Emily's fun and sweet and easy going, well to an extent. But together..._

 _Wait isn't that Emily's_ _necklace?_

"That's a nice necklace."

"Thanks. Emily let me borrow it."

"She _let you_ borrow it?" _My ears need cleaning or something because that's absu-_

" _Yeah._ When our grandma passed away she gave Emily her necklace and me her watch. Sometimes we'll swap and I'll wear her necklace and she'll wear my watch." _Oh! Okay, yeah, that makes more sense. And now I feel awkward for asking... and really inconsiderate._

"Hey Riley, I'll be there in just a minute. I've just got _one teeny tiny thing_ to do."

"Yeah sure!" Michelle waited until Riley had left, then took out her phone.

 _ **Have fun at Dance Camp! :)**_

KMTT

"Hey, what's wrong?" Stephanie cast a concerned glance towards her best friend, who was glaring at her phone as though it had personally offended her.

"...Michelle."

"OK, okay hold up. You're texting _Michelle_? Wait like, how did she even get your number?"

"I gave it to her. I meant to intimidate her a little, you know, so she'll leave- _the studio_ "

"- _the studio_ , yeah... meant to?" Emily blushed.

"She thought I was flirting with her last night."

"Were you?"

"Of course not! I was trying to be mysterious."

"Do you hear yourself?"

" _Ominous_ , mysterious Steph!" Dozens of feet could be heard moving through the corridor. "That'll be the kids. No phones today we're trying to make a good impression alright."

KMTT

 _She seems to have kind of an agenda going on right now, so the sooner I figure out what that is, I'm sure we can sort out... all that._

 _I don't want to sort things out with Michelle! Expose her as the fake she clearly is, yes; build bridges? No, no definitely not. Not at all... no._

KMTT

 _I agree to come to Elite because if I spend a_ little bit _more time with Emily_ and _the rest of the team then, you know it'll bring me a little bit closer._

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be good to check out the competition right?"

"Al _right." I can't believe it. I'm going_ with Emily _to spy on Elite!_

 _I'm going to spy on Elite. What have I gotten myself into?_

KMTT

"I have an idea," Emily looked at Michelle, her phone, and back at Michelle. "-why don't we shoot a video?" _This could be my chance to prove that_ I'm trustworthy _, that I_ care _about this team, and that we_ could _be good friends. It is a risk, but it's one I'm willing to take 'cause I_ know _she'll have my back in there - dance captain right?_

"I'll go."

"They do it in all other sports- you'll _go_?" _She's not upset that I volunteered, I think I made the right choice._

Seriously, _what do Eldon and James have against me shooting a two minute film? Well whatever it is, it doesn't matter, Emily chose me. Into the lion's mouth I go, I guess._

KMTT

 _It's been six minutes since Michelle went into Elite. Normally I wouldn't notice but I'm relying on her for the video, plus she could well roll over on us to save her goody two shoes reputation. I'm starting to get nervous, but_ not _for Michelle_ _._

"She's been in there a long time. I knew this was a bad idea."

"Whatever. Can you text her?" _Steph, you're a genius!_

"Yeah! Yeah that's actually a good idea."

 **Get back here NOW!**

 _What about the video? I don't care at this point._ Emily's finger stabbed the reply button.

"Sent." _I am_ not _falling for Michelle's tricks, but I'm not about to hand her the chance to tattle on A-Troupe either._

KMTT

 _Finally! This place is enormous, I actually got lost._

 _I am_ terrified _of getting caught, but you know it_ is _what's best for the team and I_ do _wanna impress Emily._

 _Set to record and... here we go._ Michelle's phone beeped. She looked at it in horror. _What do I do now? If the team comes in we're_ busted.

KMTT

"It's been ten minutes." Emily looked up from her phone screen.

"She _hasn't_ even replied yet!" _I need her back five minutes ago. For the video. James is being irritating. What to d-_ "Go look for her." _I am_ not _worried about Michelle. I'm worried my dance captaincy is being threatened because Miss Goody Two Shoes apparently can't shoot a simple video! If Miss Kate hears about this, I, I'm done. Michelle from Madison, Wisconsin will be the new dance captain and her_ agenda _to take over would've_ worked _. So she'd_ better _be okay in there._

"You're _actually_ just gonna send another person in there?"

"It's not a _war-zone_ they're gonna come out alive!"

KMTT

 _It's such a relief to be outside Elite. I'm just glad Lucien didn't expect me to dance today._ Michelle cheerfully rounded the building. _Now I just need to explain what happened to the team and we'll be on our w- They're_ gone.. _. Emily was never my friend after all._


	4. Change The Tide

Michelle all but runs back to the studio - this day has taken long enough, and she feels like she should have known what would happen to her but she did it anyway because she likes Eldon and Riley and James and Giselle and West and Beth and Chloe and Daniel and Tiffany, she thought she liked Stephanie - still may do, but she _refuses_ to like Emily. Dance Captain of The Next Step and whom she thought was the first friend she'd made... Emily reminds her of Hunter in a way, at least she thought she did - apparently the only thing the two share in common is their ego. Michelle finds herself grinning at the thought.

 _Damn her._

KMTT

 _You'd have thought he would have gotten it through his head by now - I don't want to be with him! Who does he think he is to pull me away from my friends all the time and ask the same question_ over and over _when he already knows the answer?! If he's not satisfied with my no, he should ask the imaginary dance captain he_ clearly _has in his head; Eldon and his imagination in my opinion, would make a fantastic couple._

Still, Emily had never actually told Eldon to think about the _likelihood_ of her saying no _because-_ \- Here she found herself stopping short. Why was that? She was vaguely aware of a door opening somewhere behind her but she had bigger things to think about, at least she did before she heard that soft, and in her opinion _misplaced_ , 'hi' coming from the _ex Dance Captain thank you very much_ , and rolled her eyes even as she found herself turning, like everyone else (although she was one of the last!) to face Michelle. _Oh that's why! To keep him away from things like_ that.

KMTT

Michelle found that taking the stairs had taken all the anger out of her, and was almost tripping over her words, each one delivered with reticence and something that for her liking bordered too close to an apology, _it wasn't even my fault_! But then she mentions Elite and almost the entire troupe (except for Eldon and Stephanie and West, and Emily if she was looking but she _isn't_ ) searches her with poorly-disguised suspicion on their faces. And when she'd mentioned escaping of her own wit, for a brief second she'd caught Emily's eye and she'd looked as impressed as Michelle wanted her to be of her when she went in there the first place and it's too much, too fast... and Michelle realises nothing makes sense.

"Michelle." Miss Kate beckons her with a finger. "My office." Michelle sighed.

She obediently followed behind trying to look simultaneously optimistic and innocent. _Here goes nothing_.

KMTT

Vaguely amused by Chloe getting ripped into by Emily for wearing jean-shorts (she knows she shouldn't and if asked would be firmly on Chloe's side anyway), Michelle picks the first person she sees, but remembering how good Eldon's audition was and how happy he was to be dancing, it doesn't really matter to her, because something clicks.

"Hey-uh, Eldon, do you wanna be my duet partner?"

"Yeah, sure."

KMTT

The duet is going _amazing, fantastic, better than I could ever have_ hoped _for - like dancing with Hunter but not_ until one day it isn't. Eldon starts acting like a fool. _What? Is he singing?_

 _Okay, I am one hundred percent_ done _with this._

"Eldon, can I talk to you? A _lone_." Michelle holds her ground for a few more seconds, just because she can. Oh well, at least she'll have a functioning partner in a few minutes. Really, the joke's on Emily. _Does she even have a partner yet?_ _Who cares?_

She finishes rehearsal, which was impossibly even better than before. _And okay, it hurts_ a little _that Emily had to talk to him before he'd listen to me, then again I guess she has known him longer_. Going back over the steps in her mind, she finds herself humming along to their duet song as she approaches Studio B.

 _I wonder what Riley wants to talk about anyway_.

KMTT

 _ **Is it true?!**_

 **Michelle, I don't want to talk right now. I've just been on the worst date with Eldon.**

 **Not that it's any of your business.**

 _ **Not the date with Eldon! Are you planning on kicking me out of the studio?!**_

 **If I was, why would I tell you?!**

 **Why do you trust me to tell you the truth right now?! You're DELUSIONAL I swear to God!**

 _ **So what? I'm not good enough to be part of your A-Troupe?! I was the first one to volunteer to film Elite!**_

 **Congratulations, you took one for the team. Have some of James' cookie**

 _ **You know what I mean**_

 _ **You left me behind.**_

 **Yes I did.**

 **I put the team's best interest over yours.**

 **Happy now?!**

 _ **And if you thought me being off the team was best for the team's interest you'd...?**_

 **I always do what's best for the team.**

 **You were Dance Captain.**

 **Figure it out.**

 _ **Why did I EVER think we were friends?!**_

 **You're slow at this aren't you? You thought we were 'friends' because me letting you believe that was what was best for the team at the time.**

 _ **And now?**_

 **We'll see each other at practice like every other dancer on the team.**

 _ **Stop doing that! Is Miss Kate kicking me off the team or not?!**_

 **As interesting as I find entertaining that notion - sadly, no. I hold myself to a higher standard than that.**

 _ **So what? I just stick around until you're done playing your mind games?**_

 _ **Besides**_

 _ **They're not exactly going to work if I know about them**_

 **The price for lowering myself to the level of my rival in order to be 'fair' about this whole thing**

 **Don't worry, I'll figure something out**

 _ **I'M NOT WORRIED**_

 **Well no, that would be stupid**

 **Look - you seem like the kind of insipid person that would be into that stereotypical sexist trash- sorry, film "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days"**

 _ **?**_

 **Just think of me as the leading lady trying to get rid of you, for real.**

 _ **So I'm meant to what? Woo you?**_

 **NO! Why would you even think that?!**

 _ **...You've never seen HTLAG10D have you?**_

 **...Does she use any good techniques? And would you be willing to list them in alphabetical order?**

 _ **Annoying her significant other?**_

 **I can't believe you're actually telling me this stuff, you know where my head's at.**

 **Keep going**

 ** _That's pretty much the whole film_**

 **What is?**

 _ **Annoying her significant other**_

 **Right, now would this be a method that works for you?**

 _ **So are you asking me as a date thing, or-?**_

 **NOT A DATE THING!**

 _ **Yeah, but Eldon could use a dose of his own medicine right?**_

 **...Why are you helping me? Eldon's your friend.**

 _ **Why are**_ **you** ** _sabotaging your own plan to kick me out of the studio?_**

 **Michelle, you don't know me. I** ** _always_** **find a way**

 _ **You don't know me either... ;)**_

 **stop doing that!**

 _ **So the annoying thing works for you, interesting... well - goodnight Em :))**_

 **...**

 _ **Aren't you going to wish me goodnight?**_

 **"Shan't."**

 **Steph! Thank God she's gone!**

 _ **I know you're faking. You could have ignored me at any time. Plus the "Devil Wears Prada" pun? A++**_

 **... Fine, goodnight. I hope you make all the friends you can at the studio 'cause you'll need them when you're gone**

 **:)**

 **Sleep well... or whateve** ** _r_**


	5. Please Don't Stop The Music

"Stop the music! I'm disappointed in both of you. If this doesn't change we're not gonna win Regionals okay?" Miss Kate pointed at Emily. "You know what you need to do."

KMTT

 _ **This was a mistake**_

 **What now?**

 _ **our duet**_

 **It's not exactly like either of us wanted to perform it. What do you mean?  
**

 _ **we could've done better**_

 _ **still**_

 **Still, what?**

 _ **no that's it. Wrong order... we still could've done better than we did earlier today**_

 **And I suppose you have something in mind.**

 _ **as a matter of fact - I do**_

 **Well?**

 _ **just follow my lead for a while**_

 **You realize that, for whatever reason, you've lost dance captain and it's not coming back any time. Just because we performed one _atrocious_ duet - I'm not giving you dance captain!**

 _ **really not what I meant**_

 **?**

 _ **just trust me**_

 **You can't be serious.**

 _ **As serious as I am about HTLAG10D**_

 **About that, I wasn't feeling too great last time, and I typed things I'm not exactly proud of. Please discard and disregard any previous fever-fuelled banter that may have inadvertently suggested to you that we're friends, despite the copious evidence pointing to the contrary. Thank you.**

 _ **what? Is that a PSA or something?**_

 _ **fine. In that case... if this deal doesn't improve things with Miss Kate, you can end it. & like you said, you're dance captain so the deal automatically ends after like a week?**_

 **3 days. No more.**

 _ **deal. On the +side Miss Kate wanted everyone to perform duets to increase trust in the studio... so this should really impress her.**_

 **That is literally the only reason I'm doing this. Now please vacate my inbox, I've got better people to talk to.**

KMTT

Michelle stared at her phone in disbelief.

"Well, at least she has to give me a chance now."

KMTT

Emily put the phone down and faced the rest of A-Troupe.

"Alright everyone, that was the manager for Brighter Brightest. Because James has managed to persuade her that he can play the drums... somehow, she's now looking for two guitar players and a bass player - then she said that she wanted Riley to play one of them so for the two 'instrument' spots I was thinking-"

"How about you and I?" Everyone looked at Michelle as though she'd grown a second head. The dance captain glared at her as Michelle smiled back with fake innocence.

"Fine. Michelle, we'll go with your insulting and frankly bizza-" Michelle narrowed her eyes. The dance captain sighed. "Fine, we'll go with your idea - that's neither bizarre nor insulting."

James turned to Riley.

"It's a trap," he whispered. She rolled her eyes and swatted him on the arm.

"It's not going to be a trap! I can't see my sister teaming up with Michelle to pull one over the team... to save her reputation in front of Miss Kate maybe."

"You think that's what this is?" Daniel asked them.

"Well it's not like Emily has ever admitted to remotely liking Michelle in the past." Tiffany pointed out.

"Wait. Emily likes Michelle?! I thought she liked me!"

"Eldon," West put his hand on Eldon's shoulder, "let it go bud."

"Besides," Chloe interjected, "that's probably not what Tiff meant, _right_ Tiff?" She nodded in Tiffany's direction. Tiffany smirked.

"Yeah Chloe, way to be subtle." Chloe looked at the floor.

"I knew it!" James said.

"But... whether or not Emily likes Eldon or _anyone else_ is none of our business guys. We have to give her time." Most of the dancers nodded.

"So you're saying that if I stop asking Emily out she'll go out with me?" The other dancers groaned and left Eldon standing on his own, staring around him in blissful bemusement.

"And on that note!" Emily announced. "We should get back to work." She, Michelle and Stephanie rejoined the larger group. "Let's get into positions and go aga-"

"-Okay so how much did you hear?" James interrupted. Michelle opened her mouth to respond when Emily jumped in.

"Nothing, nothing, not a thing... right Steph?"

Stephanie nodded, the barest hint of a smile on her face. "Yeah, we totally missed everything you guys said. It sounded like you were having a blast though - what were you guys talking about?" As the others racked their brains for a plausible topic idea Steph winked at Emily and Michelle.

Emily sighed with relief. "Crisis averted," she muttered under her breath. Michelle stared at her dumbfounded.

"What _crisis_?" She hissed in the dance captain's ear, while everyone's attention was focused elsewhere. Emily jumped back slightly and stared at her. "We're wasting time and you're turning Stephanie into a _sadist_!"

"What? I don't know anything about the Church of Satan!" Emily hissed back.

"No, sa-dist, not Sa-ta-nist."

"What are you guys talking about?" Miss Kate asked as she approached them.

The dance captain hastily swung her left arm over Michelle's shoulder, landing her wrist awkwardly on the outside of Michelle's left arm, and smiled innocently.

"Oh you know, just what sort of rockers we should be looking at to inspire our bass, guitar performance." Miss Kate looked at them quizzically.

"I would have thought Brighter Brightest would be fine but _more to the point_ ," Emily and Michelle exchanged guilty glances, "I'm so glad you're working together and trying hard, ah, maybe too hard. Let me..." She disentangled the two dancers. "It's alright not to be able to work together on the first try you know, but you have to at least have a basic level of respect for each other. So instead of whatever that was, why don't you each tell me one thing you like about each other."

"Do we have to though?" Michelle asked, hopping from foot to foot. Miss Kate raised one eyebrow and leaned in confidentially.

"The sooner you do the sooner you can get back to dancing." Michelle beamed and looked hopefully at Emily. The dance captain sighed.

"Fine, I'll start... You're dedicated to this team."

"Good. And Michelle?"

"Uh... You're welcoming, like on my first day you came and said 'hi' and-"

"Miss Kate, can we please get back to dance now?" Emily interrupted.

"Yeah, you don't like to waste time either," Michelle added and laughed nervously.

"Michelle, I'm disappointed in you. You couldn't say one nice thing about her without insulting her."

"But Miss Kate that wasn't an insult, it wasn't even a criticism! It was just an observation. Like good time management is a good thing." Miss Kate sighed and the two dancers rolled their eyes. Michelle tried again. "Well, I guess I'd say Emily is dedicated to this team too, but isn't that just like taking what she said and-" Miss Kate cut her off.

"-Which means you have something in common. Not only do you both possess this trait, it's something you value in each other." Miss Kate smiled and nodded. "Back to work!" The studio head returned to her office.

"I can't believe we just wasted like two hours on that." Emily muttered as she and Michelle returned to their positions.

KMTT

"Hey hang on! Em?" The dance captain reluctantly turned around and shuffled back in the direction of the locker room, stopping in front of Michelle. She sighed and inspected her nails, deliberately taking up time before she spoke.

"So close and yet so far," Emily nodded to herself before she finally looked at Michelle. "What do you want?"

"Did Riley mention anything about having one of her friends over for dinner?"

"What's it to you? ...Yeah"

"Did she mention I don't have a way of getting there?"

"Nop- you're the friend?!" Michelle nodded.

"For the record Riley didn't say anything about who would be driving and I didn't even think-"

"Whoa! Hang on, Michelle... it's fine. Don't get me wrong it's not great but you're Riley's friend and she and I agreed to keep our dance drama out of the house so... I guess I'm driving us all tonight." The two dancers set out towards the car park.

"...Thanks Em. You know you're failing miserably at kicking me out of the studio right?" The dance captain smiled and stuck her hands in her pockets.

"Yeah well... we made a deal for this week and I'm a woman of my word." Michelle bit her lip and tried not to laugh.

"So maybe this isn't the right time to poke the sleeping bear and let it lie on the dog or whatever but..."

"But?"

"But. Riley told me I'm actually older than you... by three months."

"I love Riley, but she's gonna die tonight." Michelle giggled as Emily unlocked the car and hopped in to the driver's seat.

"When she gets here, you mean." Michelle looked at her watch. "I thought she'd be waiting by the door."

"Same. Do you mind texting her? I'll get the heat turned on."

"Yeah, whatever."

KMTT

Emily caught Michelle's mortified expression through the driver's mirror.

"...What?"

"Um, I'm not coming to dinner after all. Sorry for wasting your time." The dance captain sunk her head into her hands.

"What? Where are you going then?"

"Uh, back home. Why?"

"Your parents in?"

"Yeah... why?"

"I can drive you when Riley joins us."

"Yeah, so apparently Riley's not coming."

"Since when?!"

"Since James gave her this big surprise and his Mom invited her to celebrate with their family, she's proud of James."

"That does sound like Deborah... Is Riley already there?"

"I don't- _yeah_ , literally _just_ got a text saying that she's been there for around ten minutes already and-"

"-only just remembered that you were coming round for dinner?"

"Yep..."

"Okay, change of plans. I'll drive you to your house first, and then head home."

"You don't have to-"

" _Michelle_ , can you just navigate already? We've been sat in the car park for-" the dance captain checked her watch, "forty-five minutes." Michelle rolled her eyes and got into the front seat.

"We've been here five minutes, you're just saying that because it feels like forty-five minutes."

"It feels like four hours."

"We can go... thanks, again." The SUV pulled out onto the main road. Emily glanced over at Michelle.

"Since when are you so awkward anyway?"

"Right up here. What do you mean? I'm normally - left down here - nervous in new places don't you - second exit - remember what I was like on my first day?" The dance captain pointedly kept her eyes fixed on the road and didn't speak again until they arrived at Michelle's house.

"Are you thinking about what everyone was saying about... you know, me liking you?" Michelle laughed and blushed.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You might stick out like a sore thumb in places but you normally own it, I've never seen you be _this_ self-conscious before. I need to know if it's because of what everyone was saying about me." Emily switched off the engine and got out.

Michelle traipsed around the vehicle, pausing at the beginning of her drive.

"Yes. No. I don't know!" They set off towards the front steps.

"Because I don't, you know."

"I know. You've told me an inordinate amount of times." Michelle looked over at the dance captain.

"Then why does no-one believe me?! I tell Eldon I don't like him, he doesn't believe me." They stopped at the front door. "I think even my best friends don't believe me. And now everyone's got it in their head that I like you! Why can't it be my choice?"

"It is!"

"Really? Cause I get the feeling you don't believe me." Michelle let out a breath before replying.

"Look, whether that's true or not, and I don't know what I believe, everything here is still so new to me and we just did a music video with a real popular _band_ so my mind's a bit blown right now," Emily chuckled despite herself. "I do know that regardless of whatever I know, or think I know - I'm gonna respect you no matter what."

"Even when I go back to trying to get you kicked out of the studio?"

"Fine, I'll respect only your dating choices." Michelle stepped through her front door. "Goodnight dance captain."

Emily looked at the closed door in front of her. "Sweet dreams Michelle."


	6. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Emily's finger hovered over the send button. She hesitated. Groaning, she deleted the latest message draft to Michelle, and threw the phone on the bed. It landed with a thump as Riley threw the bedroom door open.

"Come _on_ \- we're gonna be late. And we have literally never been late to dance in twelve years.

You might have been like following Michelle's orders but at least they were good ones... right?"

"They were great ideas Ri. Michelle didn't say one thing I wasn't already thinking."

"Then what's the problem?" Emily sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. " _Ah_ ," Riley said, "on the way to dance. Come on."

Emily picked up her phone and jumped up. "Right."

The two sisters all but ran to the car, and to their mother's lack of surprise, neither of them fought over the front seat that particular morning.

Riley leaned forward and pressed play on the mp3 hookup. She nodded her head at her sister.

"I'm Dance Captain."

"Sorry if this sounds insensitive Em, but I knew that." Emily rolled her eyes.

"I know what to do, Riley. I don't need your help."

"I was joking."

The dance captain smiled fondly and kissed her sister's forehead. "But I'm being serious, I have a plan."

"...to kick Michelle out of the studio?"

"Oh right. I forgot you knew."

"Know what? What do I know? What do you think I know? Can you really know what I know if I don't know?... Who told you?" The dance captain inhaled sharply.

"Michelle," Emily shrugged her shoulders and stared intently at the roof. Riley stared at her, incredulous.

"Michelle told you?"

"Why wouldn't she?"

Riley beamed. "Because you worked things out between you, and now you're friends!"

"...No."

"You could be friends?"

"That could never happen, even if- look what happened with Giselle!"

"She got demoted, and you had one of the most awkward break-ups ever. It was very heartfelt though, and she still misses you. There's no E-Girl rule against going ou-" Emily glanced quickly at their mother.

"Don't. You. Dare. Sa-" Emily blinked. "Besides, who says I don't have more rules for myself?" Riley put her hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Well," she started hesitantly, "I always thought 105 rules was plenty to be honest... I nearly didn't learn them by the time I joined." The head E-Girl laughed.

"You didn't! I wrote you flash cards, and you struggled to read my handwriting for like 99 of them," Emily reminded her. Riley laughed.

"Your writing was so diddy!"

"It looks neater that way! Come on, if I waited for you to join A-Troupe before establishing the E-Girls, my little sister was absolutely going to be one of us... maybe that was a mistake."

"What?" Riley was stung. "I loved being par-"

"-but I'm already your boss."

"As dance captain?"

"That too. But your older sister. It's a default thing, you do what I say."

"Ha. Ha." The dance captain struggled to keep a straight face.

"But-" something caught her eye. "Hey Mum. Do you mind dropping us off here? I think I see the girls."

Her mother mumbled something that sounded suspiciously similar to 'about time' under her breath and pulled alongside the curb.

"Alright! Everyone out, have a great day."

"You too."

"Love you!"

Riley looked inquisitively at Emily. Her sister turned to her and waited until Chloe, Tiffany, Giselle and Stephanie had caught up to them, acting as though they hadn't been walking together.

"E-Girl Rule number 106," the head E-Girl proclaimed, "applicable to E-Girls past and present: E-Girl rules are only enforced in the studio building!"

"And the shopping mall." Stephanie added. "I refuse to shop alone."

"Whoo! Group hug!" Was the only warning Giselle gave everyone. Everyone fell into the hug, grinning shamelessly.

"Hey," Tiffany said. "I'm glad Em came to her senses and all. But we're cutting it kinda close don't you think?"

" _Hey_! What d-"

"She's right. We're gonna be late!" Chloe frowned as everyone but Giselle and Riley looked at her questioningly. "Forget it." She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Let's just be on time for everyone else!" Tiffany, Stephanie and Emily hung back momentarily.

"What's her problem?" The dance captain asked.

"Maybe she's making an effort to be on time now." Tiffany suggested.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Stephanie said. The other two nodded.

"Yeah."

"True."

Giselle waved to them before she entered the building.

"Bye girl!" Tiffany called. Stephanie smiled and waved back. Emily stared at the spot where she'd last stood and sighed heavily.

"How do you re-friend an almost-ex?" She wondered aloud.

"What?" Tiffany asked with a laugh. "Who's this about?"

The dance captain caught herself with a jolt. "Riley. Who else? If her first date with James goes terribly and she loses him as a friend, she's gonna be devastated." The three started walking inside again.

"You think James likes Riley too?"

"I would absolutely prefer if she didn't go out with him, but I have a sinking feeling- wait! What's James said? I will break every one of his fingers if he so much as thinks... what?"

"Girl, you just said re-friending an ex was about Riley." Stephanie pointed out.

"Almost-ex," Emily corrected. "He's not going to get the chance as long as I'm around to protect her.

Come on E-Girls!" She said. "Let's show everyone how it's done."


	7. Kidz

"I can't believe we've been paired up for Math!" Michelle dropped her textbook on to the desk. Emily scowled and fixed her gaze on the whiteboard to her right.

"I was blissfully unaware that you went to school here until this point in time, and now they're asking me to tutor you. Imagine how I feel!" Michelle rolled her eyes.

"I asked you if you wanted to be co-captains. What else could I do?"

"Oh I don't know, not go behind my back and steal dance captain?"

"I had to!"

"Oh I'm sorry-"

"-Apology not accepted." Emily narrowed her eyes and finally turned to face Michelle.

"And what apology do I owe you?"

"How about the fact that you didn't even give me a chance! You just left." Michelle shrugged and dropped her gaze to the floor.

The Elite dancer twisted her lips and leant over the table, opening Michelle's textbook to page 47.

"Plotting yx graphs." She tapped the page lightly with her nail. Michelle slid slowly to the edge of her chair and looked over the page, hair covering her face.

Emily sighed, her face brightened for a split second.

Michelle took a deep breath and looked at her ex-teammate.

"Alright."

"Hey, Emily!" Emily looked over at the assistant co-captain.

"What can I do for you Shantel?"

"You know you can mark your lines if you need to, right? It's not that different from The Next Step. Well except the superior routines, fantastic studio and better dancers."

"I'm fine." Shantel raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Well, it's still not that."

"It can't be. Saying something like that normally increases your productivity." Emily inclined her head towards Shantel.

"I've never had that reaction before." The corner of Emily's mouth twitched. "Normally people roll their eyes at me, or get angry for no reason. I just can't understand it."

"No, no. I... I know. Back when I was dance captain-" Emily sucked in a breath.

"You'd better not be gunning for dance captain, I'll have you know myself and Tess are first in the line-"

"-I'm-I'm not. I promise. I just had it 'snatched out from under me', I know how it feels."

"Is this to do with that girl you're tutoring?"

"Hmm? What? How do you know about that?"

"Tess felt it was important to make sure it wasn't another trick, you know?" Emily slowly nodded her head.

"But no, I don't think this is even about Michelle, annoying as she is... My sister and I are on good terms again, thank God. But, well, it's reminded me about how I treated my best friend. I'm not exactly proud of it, let's put it that way."

"How did you treat her?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Like I said earlier, we all need you to increase your productivity, so..."

(Earlier in the week)

"We need to change the routine!" Michelle looked up as Stephanie stormed up to her.

"What? Why?" Stephanie paced back and forth.

"Why? Emily is at Elite! And probably telling them our routine right now!"

"What? Even if she did, why would they listen? Wouldn't that severely like dent their reputation as the best dance troupe around here? Taking someone else's routine?"

"Michelle, you're our dance captain right now, but you have like no experience with us, let alone Emily! And let alone Elite! Now, do you trust me on this or not?"

Michelle was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I never meant for her to leave." Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. That's nice, but that's also not the issue! We need a new routine."

"Okay, okay. You're right. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, first of all, we should talk to Miss Kate, see what ideas she's got."

"Good point. You know you'd make a good dance captain." Stephanie looked pointedly at Michelle. "Or y'know, I could live up to the trust everyone- almost everyone -has in me. You would still make a good dance captain though."

"Just, ugh, be quiet and be useful. I'm not doing this for you." Stephanie smiled at Michelle's shocked expression. "What? You think that just because my best friend abandons me and I've got no-one to talk to as soon as I get home, I'm going to forget what makes a good dance captain?"

"The team voted for me."

"Yeah cause they've never had you!"

"Excuse me?! They voted for me because Emily is practically a dictator! I had a routine that included everyone, and the dancers feel like they can trust me."

"Oh, so because Emily acts like a dictator..."

"Yes!"

"...you asked her to help you with dance captain?"

"Exactly! Wait, no."

"Whatever reason you tell yourself you are our dance captain, Michelle, and you need to step up." Michelle nodded.

"I will."

"Good."

"So as dance captain..."

"Why are we still talking?"

"It's my job to make sure the dancers are okay. Why don't you talk to Tiffany, or Riley, or Chloe?"

"I don't know if they want to talk to me."

"Well you'll never know unless you try, right?" Stephanie contemplated the idea for a few moments, then gave a way grin.

"I almost can't believe it, but she was right. Out of everything, she was right about you."

"That doesn't sound great."

"It's no-"

"Hey Burps!"

"Well, that's me. Thanks for the talk Shantel." Shantel nodded slowly.

"Let's never do that again." Emily nodded quickly.

"Agreed."

 **You passed.**

 _ **I didn't think you were talking to me.**_

 **You're my student.**

 **I see you learned English in my absence.**

 ** _Ha. Ha. ...Thank you._**

 **As much as it pains me to admit this: you did work for this, so I guess you kind of deserve it. Although you don't deserve it.**

 _ **I'm sorry about co-captains.**_

 **Co-captains?!**

 _ **Well I couldn't help the fact that you didn't believe me!**_

 **You could have.**

 _ **how?**_

 **You could have talked to me, rather than just about me.**

 _ **No. I'm not doing this. I'm not feeling guilty for being the one that you wanted gone.**_

 _ **I didn't ask you to leave.**_

 **Like you're not revelling in the fact!**

 _ **I'm not!**_

Michelle threw her phone on the bed and groaned aloud.

"At least we have a different routine for Regionals now, Stephanie was probably right about Emily after all."

"What?" Riley asked.

"Michelle." Emily rolled her eyes.

"What'd she, wait, you're talking to her?"

"Unfortunately. Blame that stupid mentoring programme!"

"H-h-how'd it go?"

"I just told her she passed."

"And you already found something to fight about?"

"More like we haven't stopped fighting, you know what? Let's not talk about it. So, how's life at the studio?"

"I, I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you... What about you? How's Elite?"

"I can't tell you either."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Hey, here's an idea. You can teach me about robot-police dramas set in space." Riley said.

"What is that? It sounds terrifying. Why would I know about those?"

"You know all about that kind of thing! You know, like that silly thief movie you showed me."

"...Hey! Ocean's Eleven is a classic!"

"Classic piece of trash, yeah."

"Why are you insulting my second-favourite movie of all time anyway?"

"James showed me one, forever ruined the genre for me."

"What? It's not even the same genre!"

"Eh." Riley waved her hand. "Police are involved, same thing. Besides, don't you always find more plot-holes in it each time you watch it?"

"Yeah, but I still love watching it."

"You love watching Emma Roberts act in it." Emily shrugged.

"Same difference, she's talented at what she does."

"You said it didn't even feel like a thriller the first time you watched it."

"Why are you questioning my love for my second-favourite movie ever made anyway?"

"Just revelling in the fact that I'm clearly right for once." Emily's smile fell and she walked over to the bedroom door.

"I just remembered I've got some homework due tomorrow. See you in the morning Ri."

"Night Em."

"No helicopter lift!" Miss Kate exclaimed, and walked into her office.

That's odd, Michelle thought. They knew what they were doing and they had experience doing it, maybe not having faith in the dancers was more a studio-taught thing than she'd first assumed.

Michelle gave Giselle a sympathetic smile.

"Well I guess that's that," Tiffany said. Michelle nodded.

"Alright everyone, back to work." She called.

The following four hours were full of partnering hip-hop with contemporary, something West and Daniel were the most experienced, hence, they got to lead the two 'gangs'. There were a few kinks to iron out but overall Michelle felt it looked good, and everyone was picking it up great.

"It's just a shame about the helicopter lift." Michelle thought aloud.

"Did you say the helicopter lift?" Giselle asked her.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up that was really insensitive of me and-"

"Michelle. Breathe... I have kind of an idea about that."

"Really? You do?" Michelle hoped her relief didn't show on her face.

"Yeah, let's go talk to Daniel."

"Let's do it!"

"No, Daniel knew he was hurt-" James started.

"What?" A few people asked.

"He should have said no to the lift!" The room erupted with people talking over each other, trying to work out how their teammate was lying in a hospital bed with a potentially career-ending injury.

"Okay stop! It's nobody's fault alright, this was an accident!" Miss Kate pronounced, and left again for the office, to inform Daniel's parents of the accident.

"It is. It's Michelle's." Stephanie said.

Giselle and Michelle found themselves alone in Studio A.

"I can't believe what I did to Daniel.

How could I make him feel like he couldn't trust me? I'm his best friend." Michelle put a hand on Giselle's bicep and squeezed gently.

"I'd bet any money part of the reason he did what he did is because you're best friends. Sometimes the pressure you put on yourself comes from you trying not to let down the people you most care about.

Well? What are you waiting for? Daniel's in hospital without his best friend.

West has probably bought flowers for him, but he still needs to know he didn't let you down." Giselle stared at Michelle, stupefied.

"My best friend from back home... I was so scared to tell him that I was leaving neither of us ever said goodbye. We talk over the phone and everything, but it's just not the same.

Don't lose your best friend because of one mistake." The dance captain released Giselle and exited the studio.

 **I heard what happened to Daniel.** Emily pressed send before she could reconsider her decision.

 _ **We're talking now? :)**_

Emily seethed at the screen and stabbed out her reply.

 **Michelle, focus!**

 **How is he?**

This was ridiculous. She should ask Riley. What business did she have contacting Michelle, the dance captain of the studio she'd turned her back on and that had turned her back on her. _Pathetic_. ...Except Stephanie got back in, and they'd both thought no-one cared. Stephanie's 'audition' was one of the first things Riley had told her about when they'd started to mend their fragmented relationship; it sounded humiliating... and just like that she was angry again.

She was about to tell Michelle exactly what she thought of what she'd put Stephanie through, when a new text popped up on her screen.

 _ **Daniel's not good, he's out for Regionals. But. Doctors gave him a recovery period. In theory, he'll be good for Nationals.**_

 **So he's going to have to re-audition for next year's Regionals is what you're saying. Great! *sarcasm***

 _ **What do you mean? You've won Regionals before, you're always so confident about it.**_

Emily rolled her eyes.

 **Not since Miss Kate was still on the team. Besides, I wasn't exactly the best judge of things, evidently.**

 _ **Don't give up on the team yet.**_

 **Oh, just myself?**

Three hours later Emily closed her I.T. book and cursed the person that thought high school students learning the ins and outs of publishing software was a good idea and not just a venture for nerds - not average consumers of pop culture who spoke things like Klingon and Elvish (she's never admitting the biggest influence for the E-Girls contract and her interest in maybe being a lawyer came from Artemis Fowl, no-that-secret-is-going-with-her-to-her-grave- _thank-you-very-much_ ), the creative ones.

One thing she never predicted about Elite, Lucien ran it like a scholarship, an academic one at that. She had to maintain A's around the board, minimum.

She unlocked her phone to see the time and was almost glad when she saw 23:15, it didn't leave her enough time to think about the last unanswered text she'd sent, why she was waiting for a reply, why she'd sent it and why-

"Night Em." Riley's voice drifted under the door that connected their bedrooms.

"Night Ri. You shouldn't be awake."

"You shouldn't think so loudly."

"You're one to talk. I can hear you worrying about Daniel from here."

"I know we're not as close friends as we used to be, but I still care about him despite all that, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah..."

"Sorry Em, sleep well."

"You too Ri, sweet dreams."


	8. Playing With Fire

In all the movies, living a double-life had seemed thrilling to Michelle, like a challenge that took your breath away and set your nerves on fire... _she was perhaps a little too into Mr & Mrs Smith_.

That was perhaps why she had told A-Troupe about her duet with Eldon, caught up for a moment in an illusion of ease that rarely translates into real life.

 _But in reality... oh God. It was hideous!_ Falling in love(?) with a guy that had a girlfriend, Emily, and not just any girlfriend - _Emily,_ while not initially knowing he had a girlfriend _who was_ Emily (and was going to ask her on their first date, because the situation just wasn't ironic enough to begin with) - and did she mention that he asked Michelle for advice?

Riley was right. He didn't deserve this... but did _she_? Because where do feelings _come from_? If only she could have chosen... would she still have a crush on him (if she didn't know he was dating _Emily_ )? It would sound horrendous to say out-loud, but Michelle really didn't think she would have, not even for a moment.

 _So why chase him_? It's a question she kept coming back to over and over again (because she _did_ chase Eldon, he didn't chase her - initially, in an almost _**miraculous**_ turn of events).

 _Did she feel sorry for him? Was she more practical at heart than she initially thought (_ they _did_ create a pretty good duet _)? Was it... just a rebound? Eldon_ had _defended her after-all, but didn't at every turn, and for one heart-stopping - fantastically idiotic moment, she thought he'd_ changed _, that he wasn't the type to doggedly pursue someone who wasn't interested..._ even when Emily came back, after _Michelle (_ and the rest of the team _)_ all but begged her...

Michelle was pretty sure she must have a crush on at least one of them - her duet partner and her co-captain (partner).

The whole thing was so - personally, she kept leaning towards either ridiculous or painful. She knew, without the tiniest speck of doubt in her mind, that had Eldon asked for date advice _before_ she had asked him about doing a duet, it never would have happened - she would have asked another dancer - Chloe was _phenomenal_ , or paired two other compatible dancers together.

But then of course, they'd both committed to the duet and Eldon started to fall as well - which led them to this horrific moment in time: Emily felt down, and as much as Michelle had _wanted_ to comfort her, the rest of the team had felt it should be Eldon (they even had to _push him_ to do it, repeatedly); he went over and... didn't kiss Emily. Michelle felt her stomach drop, and _yeah, consent could have come in to it_ , but judging from the introspective confused look Emily was sporting... _she was blaming herself for not being good enough for him_... _again_ (and Michelle wanted to throw up).

 _What had she done_?

KMTT

"Ok, but just so you know..." Michelle looked at Eldon questioningly. He smiled gently and continued, "I can't wait to take you on our first date."

Despite everything she beamed back at him, it was the sweetest thing he could have said given their circumstances. Maybe things (they all) would be okay... perhaps. If _Eldon_ of all people could move on, then maybe... _did she dare to dream_?

"Michelle." She stopped immediately, she'd know that voice anywhere by now. "Can I uh, just talk to um, Eldon for a second?"

And she knew things weren't okay, but what else could she say?

"Yeah, sure." She had to prop up the support beams of the empty edifice she'd built somehow... _it can't come crashing down before Regionals, we've all come too far and worked too hard_.

A few minutes later, she and Eldon were rehearsing again and Eldon _thank God_ had stuck to the script.

 _It'll be okay, we'll make it... I hope_.

KMTT

"...THE NEXT STEP!" The air bloomed with cheers that echoed back in her ears like the patter of rain.

The judges came out holding the Regionals trophy (somehow, by luck, she and Emily had already unwittingly found each other - _or were drawn together like magnets_ ). Emily took the trophy and Michelle became oblivious to anything else _we didn't ruin it for everyone, she deserves this-_ her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the wood and the _weight_ of the trophy, heavy and tangible in her hands, and the world started moving again.

Their eyes met briefly, before facing the crowd, and they stood proudly side-by-side like the legion-bearers of ancient Rome who protected and revered their standard above all else, even in the midst of war.

The moment began to draw away, and their were things that needed to be said.

"So are we okay?" Emily took the trophy to Kate and Michelle kicked herself for not thinking of _any other_ less self-centered way to ask how her partner was thinking, and that she appreciates her (she just wishes she knew the proper way to do it).

"DOLPHIN TAIL! Er er er er!" The audience resounded the motion and the movement and everyone got lost, however briefly, in the moment, light, laughing and carefree.

Eldon was solid and warm by her side, he'd never seemed more like someone she _wanted_ around than in this moment, not just cheering for himself, but everyone on the team.

 _Something was wrong_.

Michelle looked over and saw Emily looking back at her, glaring at her - she could have dealt with that. She saw the crease in her forehead, the way she wasn't just _glaring at Michelle_ , but drawing back into herself, before being unable to look at her any longer.

She turned and walked away.

 _Everything was wrong_.

 **Author's Note: Thank-you for your patience, everyone reading this. I've been having issues with this chapter, this must be my third or fourth re-write (because FF keeps deleting it on the upload – I finally remembered to copy & paste).**

 **Okay! That's season one DONE. I expect there'll be one or two chapters dealing with the gap between S1 and S2 (think the later off-season (esque?) thing)**

 **Last thing: thank-you all for reading! (And I hope to publish my next chapter sooner than I did this one :''D)**


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